Near Boonsboro in Washington County, Maryland — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)

Battle of BoonsboroBuying Time— Gettysburg Campaign —

By Craig Swain, June 3, 2007

1. Battle of Boonsboro Marker

Inscription. Confederate Gen. J.E.B. Stuart faced a difficult assignment: to locate the Union cavalry and prevent it from severing Gen. Robert E. Lee’s avenue of retreat to Williamsport and the Potomac River after the Battle of Gettysburg. The result was the biggest and most sustained cavalry battle in Maryland during the campaign. The Battle of Boonsboro occurred here along the National Road on Wednesday, July 8, 1863.

Stuart, with five brigades advancing from the direction of Funkstown and Williamsport, first encountered Federal resistance at Bever Creek Bridge, 4½ miles north of Boonsboro. By 11 a.m., the Confederate cavalry had pushed to these mud-soaked fields, where fighting on horseback was nearly impossible, forcing Stuart’s troopers and Gens. H. Judson Kilpatrick’s and John Buford’s Union cavalry divisions to dismount and slug it out like infantry.

By mid-afternoon, the Union left under Kilpatrick crumbled as the Federals ran low on ammunition under increasing Confederate pressure. Stuart’s advanced ended about 7 p.m., however, when Union infantry arrived—the first to engage on a Maryland battlefield since Gettysburg. Stuart withdrew north to Funkstown, but he had gained another day for Lee’s retreating army.

(sidebar) “The Seven-Shooter Spencer”Some Union cavalry used Spencer

By Craig Swain, June 3, 2007

2. Close Up View of the Battle Map

rifles with their seven-cartridge magazines, versus traditional single-shot muzzleloaders. The new weapon also proved deadly accurate. Capt. James Kidd, 6th Michigan Cavalry, later recalled a Confederate officer here waving his men forward from atop a stone fence: “A shot from a Spencer brought him headlong to the ground, and after that no one had the temerity to expose himself in that way.”

Location. 39° 31.585′ N, 77° 39.832′ W. Marker is near Boonsboro, Maryland, in Washington County. Marker is on Old National Road (Alternate U.S. 40), on the right when traveling south. Click for map. Located in the parking lot of an antique market, just off the highway. Marker is in this post office area: Boonsboro MD 21713, United States of America.

More about this marker. The marker displays a drawing of the battle with the caption, “C.E.H. Bonwill’s sketch of Kilpatrick repulsing J.E.B. Stuart at Boonsboro.” The side bar features a drawing of the Spencer rifle. A map details the tactical action during the battle.

Federals in Gamble's Brigade fought with Confederates from Jones' Brigade across the field and high grounds on the opposite side of the highway from the marker. residential development has altered the western side of the battlefield.

By Craig Swain, August 16, 2008

5. The National Road

The road bisected the battlefield, with cavalry of both sides skirmishing to the left and the right of the road. This photo was taken about a tenth of a mile north of the marker location along the road, thus looking from the Confederate skirmish line back toward the Federal lines.

Credits. This page originally submitted on July 11, 2007, by Craig Swain of Leesburg, Virginia. This page has been viewed 3,141 times since then. Photos:1, 2, 3, 4. submitted on July 11, 2007, by Craig Swain of Leesburg, Virginia. 5. submitted on August 23, 2008, by Craig Swain of Leesburg, Virginia. • J. J. Prats was the editor who published this page.